The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

The illusion was lifted the moment Farun started bleeding. However, before anyone realised they had overlooked a curse, it took the life of the Imp. Despite the best efforts of Queen Irene, she was unable to save Farun's life.

"It's so horrible..." Cahrona hugged the spellbook written by Farun, still kneeling on the floor.

In the meantime, Hürnrrät emerged from his phantom cell and lost his demonic shape. After a moment needed to reshape himself, the Slime Butler helped Cahrona stand up.

"Cahrona," the King's voice sounded from the entrance. "I don't think you should weep his demise. If not for your Charm spell and those terrifying pheromones of yours, he would never have done that."

"Your Highness..." Cahrona smiled softly, but soon after, she once again became gloomy. "I just wanted to believe that we could redeem them..."

"That's the point." He shrugged and walked in, followed by Queen Amber, Aoi, Lavender, and Scion Stella. "We can't redeem them; they must do it on their own. The first step to this is always the desire to improve and sincere regret. However, they have to truly desire such change."

"But he wanted to change. He pledged himself to me..." she protested.

"But it wasn't sincere, or rather it wasn't his own initiative." Suddenly, the King stopped and looked at her with a burning red face. He took a deep breath and smiled faintly. "Your pheromones, seductive magic or whatever that is, is truly terrifying... If that Imp had managed to resist that for two days straight, that would have taken some impressively strong will. Let's not forget that it was more like half of a year for him."

"My King?" Cahrona looked at him, confused. "I thought you were immune..."

"Immune? Hahaha. Don't make me laugh..." The King chuckled, almost nervously. "It takes a considerable effort to restrain myself, and I wasn't even your target this time. However, it can be resisted if you know what is happening. Anyway... I'm sorry to sound so cold, but Farun had not truly changed his heart. He was rather oblivious and defenceless against the combined might of spells he was put under. The illusion conjured by Hestia and Luna was more convincing than reality itself, and in addition, your skills, Cahrona, essentially left him with no choice but to do everything in his power to save you. However..."

"However?" she repeated unwillingly.

"However, we will never learn what he was thinking in his final moments and what would happen to him once he returned to his senses. Would he become truly redeemed or, on the contrary, become aggressive? Since he died to protect you and chose you as his rightful ruler, at least I can credit him for that."

"Thank you, my King... I want to believe that my race can be saved." The Succubus lowered her head and stepped toward the King, but she hesitated. Then she smiled...

•••

At first, when all my Queens requested me to allow them and Cahrona to question the captured Imp, I thought they were out of their mind. There was too much risk involved in their initial plan, but honestly, it wasn't the worst plan I have seen. With some adjustments, it might work. While our interrogation methods usually required prisoners only to reply with a simple yes or no, I wasn't stupid to believe that would be enough. Fortunately, I wasn't a Hero in white armour saving the day. I was more than willing to employ everything I knew about interrogation methods, and considering that magic was now involved, it allowed me to be... Creative. Torture was not only barbaric but even if the Truth Seeker skill was involved, the effects were diminutive. Forcing a prisoner to talk through torture rarely worked on those with strong will, and if misused, it could even kill the target. Even the skills that forcefully make people talk could be dangerous if applied with too much power. I was actually glad for the skills’ descriptions since they saved a lot of trouble and prevented awkward situations. Having that in mind, I improved the interrogation plan devised by Aoi and Luna.

The illusion of prison, with familiar faces around, along with the only person who helped the Imp. Farun was experiencing an accelerated version of what would have happened if he ended up in Tartarus. He was set up to fail any resistance he might have put up. The Slime Butler who pretended to be Hürnrrät, the horrifying screams somewhere in the distance, and the most surprising aspect that worked against Farun was the constant half-darkness of the day and almost absolute darkness of the night. Despite living in the shadowland for centuries, the Devilkins were never genuinely accustomed to the darkness. On top of that stressful atmosphere was Cahrona. She played a good samaritan, the only person who cared about the Imp. Even though most of the Devilkins we have met so far were extremely selfish, at the end of the day, they were living beings, a people of this world. The carefully narrated discussions between Hürnrrät and Farun were meant to guide him to the conclusion that he couldn't escape, but he might teach Cahrona the spell that sets her free. The Slime playing Hürnrrät never said that outright, only suggesting the possibility. In the meantime, Cahrona used her seductive powers to weaken the Imp. She was irresistible, but she never once suggested anything to the Imp aloud.

Eventually, he decided to save Cahrona. Probably in some vain, subconscious hope, they could flee together and live happily ever after. But he died. A well-hidden curse killed him, and it was like a bucket of cold water on mine and Irene's heads. We thought we were the smartest kids in the classroom when it came to such plots. Irene was a Saintess with not only the power and skills unimaginable by anyone else, but she was also backed up by the accumulated knowledge of the Earth I took with me. Not only the printed version of Wikipedia but also the actual books, encyclopaedias, and coursebooks used in the best medical schools around the Earth were at her disposal. I believed that nothing could be hidden from me. I have found and lifted so many curses and gaesa placed not only on Farun but dozens of other people that I thought it was impossible there was anything that could surprise me. Despite many thorough magical scans and examinations, we both failed to find the simple curse etched directly into Farun's heart. A curse that increased the blood pressure to the point where his heart popped like a balloon once he betrayed the Dark Lord. The rest was simple. Without knowing what was happening, even the most skilled healer couldn't save Farun. He died a mere seconds after the curse activated, far too fast for Irene to ask the heavens for a miracle to happen or even use the simplest of healing spells.

We arrived at the scene a mere moment after the Imp passed. Cahrona was slightly dazed; however, it was to be expected. Her mind was catching up with the fact that she spent only two days here, not half a year, as the illusion made her and Farun believe. But she wasn't confused as much as the Imp would have been. Verka shielded her mind for the entire time that Hestia and Luna bent reality with the illusion. Zephyr was in the room above, sealing Farun's teleportation magic, where he was safe from Cahrona's Seductive Charm and her more unique magic. After we tested how potent her magic was, I had to run with her because hardly any man could resist her charms. In retrospect, I wasn't sure if I could resist her back then if she had been this powerful when we first met. Even now, it was hard for me to be calm in her presence, and I was really glad that she was on our side now.

I stared at her and knew that breathing was important, but it took unimaginable effort to remember it. Even though a Slime Butler opened the window and Zephyr was furiously venting the room, I was losing the battle to stay calm in Cahrona's presence. I tried to make a good impression, but half of the time, I was thinking only about her. With a titanic effort and thanks to the Indomitable Will skill, I managed to turn my head at Amber, who was smirking widely. I hoped that looking at the woman I truly loved would help me somehow, but her mischievous smile made me sigh. Oh, yes... Right. She wanted to make Cahrona my wife, after all... If she pushed me just even a little bit right now, I wasn't sure if I could refuse this time. Fortunately, Cahrona seemed more interested in her race's fate, which helped a lot in calming myself. To my surprise, when she asked about my immunity to her charms, I was unable to say anything but the truth, which shocked us both. Albeit for different reasons, I suppose. She was still holding the spellbook Farun wrote and took a step in my direction.

"Still... I want to believe that my race can be saved." The Succubus lowered her head and hesitated. She changed her appearance without warning, and I wasn't even sure if I could hide my shock and delight. She was simply gorgeous, and despite the fact that I knew her magic indirectly influenced me, I had already started imagining her as my next wife. However, to my astonishment, she raised her right hand slightly, and I started calming down. All her sweet scent started to disappear, I regained my senses and composure. I could think clearly and look at her without risking doing something very unacceptable again. She smiled brightly and bowed to me. However, even though her pheromones were gone and her charm magic was restrained, she still was gorgeous, a fantastic beauty compared to the Queens of Arcadia, and that wasn't a lightly given compliment.

"I can better control my powers in this form, my King," she said sheepishly as if she had done something wrong.

"Thank you, Cahrona. I appreciate that." It took every bit of my will not to act like an idiot just now. Her power was terrifying. I cleared my throat and took a deep breath of clean air that Zephyr was pumping here. However, I had to tell her the truth. Especially now, when she probably realised how effective her power was against me. "I don't want to kill the entire race, Cahrona. But they threaten to destroy Nilmerthis if no one stops them."

"I know, my Lord." There was cold determination in her voice. "We were tricked into doing that, and I don't even know who did this to us. I won't deny that we were guilty of believing in something so outrageous. I'm not asking you to foolishly let that slide or even forgive my kin, but I want to save as many as possible."

She trembled slightly, and I felt how Amber tightened her grip around my arm. I knew exactly what my Half-Elf Queen was thinking. Cahrona's resolve was something I was going to back up. She looked deeply into my eyes and straightened, presenting the full glory of her new form. In her gaze, I sensed the same resolve that Aoi had when she decided to do everything to save her people. There was the same resolve that Luna had when we met for the first time. It was the same resolve that Irene had when she wanted to save Amber. It was the same resolve I saw in Amber's eyes when she decided to become my first friend and my Queen. Surprisingly, she looked at me the way Hestia and Lavender looked at me, but she tried to hide it. I knew that she had forgiven me long ago for killing her brother, even more so after the recent discoveries, and she was grateful for saving her life.

"I will do whatever it takes to save them." Cahrona's voice interrupted my musings as she slowly and seductively approached me and presented the spellbook with a slight bow.

I looked at the mischievous smiles of my wives and facepalmed. She looked up, startled by the slap I had given myself, but I smiled at her. I took the book from her hands, looking deeply into her eyes, and my heart almost stopped when I touched her hand unintentionally. Immediately, she became flustered and blushed so cutely that I thought my heart would burst out of my chest. Like a kid. From zero to one hundred faster than a fucking Ferrari...

"Don't give them ideas if you don't really mean it," I whispered to her. Seeing her confusion, I turned my head slightly toward my Queens standing behind me. Cahrona shot a gaze in the direction I indicated and turned into even deeper shades of red on her face. "I will help you save as many of your people as possible, Cahrona."

"T-thank you, m-my King..." she stuttered, still flustered.

"However, everything has its price..." I said, thinking about Elisabeth and Mia. But when I looked at her blushed face and mysterious but happy smile, I wasn't sure if I should have said anything at all...

•••

We teleported to Stella's study, where she had begun examining the spellbook. We waited patiently in the adjacent room so as not to disturb her, but everyone, even Cahrona, who had returned to her human form, had their gaze fixed on the doors. After one hour of suspense, Stella returned to us with mixed feelings clearly visible on her face and in her body language.

"It's the real deal," she stated, and we all collectively exhaled in relief. However, Stella wasn't celebrating. "The spell itself requires at least a level sixty mage. The spellbook suggested that virtually any class can learn it, albeit other classes needing to be much closer to level one hundred or so, depending on the specific class."

"That's excellent news, right?" I asked, uncertain due to her frustrated tone.

"Only technically, my King." She finally sighed. "There must be some trick to it, something Farun hadn't told us before he died. The Teleportation spell requires a ridiculous amount of mana."

"How much?" Luna asked with a serious tone.

"If I understand the formula correctly, the amount of mana spent is equivalent to the distance and volume you want to transfer."

"Volume?" I interrupted her. That was interesting. "I thought that mass would be more important."

"Yes, I admit I haven't considered it during my research. Nonetheless, the volume of the objects teleported is more important than their mass. In terms of mana spent, we are talking about hundreds or even thousands of mana points." Stella nodded and faced Luna. "I have no idea how Farun imagined Cahrona's escape. When we captured her, her mana count was fairly impressive for a Mortal: one hundred and fifty mana. However, it would be enough to teleport her only fifteen, maybe twenty kilometres away at most."

"Well, there was some logic in his thinking. That might have worked if we couldn't track her." I nodded. "But overall, twenty kilometres is not that far, especially if we are talking about transporting a single person."

"Imps have some racial skills that allow them to use their mana more efficiently when they use non-combat spells, but I don't know how much it helps them overall..." Cahrona fell silent when she realised that everyone was staring at her.

"The answer then is ‘a lot’. It helps them a lot..." I sighed and grinned widely as I turned towards the doors to take my leave, quickly followed by Aoi. "Have fun figuring that one out. Good luck, Girls!"